Walter Becker: Circus Money : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

For his second solo disc, Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker tones down his immaculately recorded jazz-pop grooves and supple horn hooks in favor of reggae-lite jams. Cuts like "Do You Remember the Name" and "Bob Is Not Your Uncle Anymore" just sort of drift along like a Caribbean breeze, not offering much in the way of swing or virtuosic solos. But tracks that hew closer to signature Dan style reveal dazzling sonic touches: "Downtown Canon" couches textured electric piano underneath his paean to coked-up nights. And on "Darkling Down," Becker, who typically leaves soloing duties to session aces, unleashes nimble fretwork. Lyrically, Becker's in fine form with stories about airheaded floozies and the lotharios who love them. The dude's the Bukowski of the easy-listening set. But sometimes he goes too far. "Door Number Two," a dirty tale of a game-show host's fling with a young contestant, isn't subtle on the double entendre: "Do me red, do me blue/What goes on behind door number two?" You might not want to know the answer.